A year ago I read Aliette de
Bodard’s The House of Shattered Wings, her first book in the Dominion of the
Fallen series. I fell in love with her Gothic-tinged world of fallen angels and
Parisian ruins. The sequel, The House of Binding Thorns, is a worthy successor
that—dare I say it?--may be even better than the first. The first novel was a taut,
atmospheric murder mystery set in House Silverspires. In the follow-up novel,
the action shifts to Silverspires’ rival, House Hawthorn. A few characters from
the first novel make their reappearance. Philippe, an outcast Vietnamese
Immortal, is trying to resurrect a dear (and dead) friend. Madeline, a mortal
alchemist addicted to angel essence (a drug which is the distillation of angel
magic), has been dragged reluctantly back to service in House Hawthorn, and is
simply trying to s…